Rediscovering Slow Journalism
Exhausted by the attention economy and 24 hour news cycle, our brains need a refresh, and a return to the satisfaction of slow journalism in the new year.
I remember a conversation I had with a communication studies student in 2006 about the creation of Twitter. At that point in our lives and the technology timeline, we could not fathom why folks would want to use it and share so much about what they were doing minute to minute. We laughed at how ridiculous it sounded to post random thoughts publicly so everyone could see them. We joked about how intrusive and utterly useless we thought that idea was. Little did we know how Twitter would change the course of the news cycle, journalism, and media consumption as we knew it.
You want me to whatbook? And Tweet? Like a bird? Are you serious?" @SC_Stephens
The 24/7 News Cycle
Twitter fundamentally changed journalism as we know it. It also revolutionized the newsroom, speeding up a complicated news-gathering process. What used to crawl in slowly over the wire now came over in real time, tweet after tweet. The modern-day journalist cannot rest their eyes for a moment for fear of missing vital information. The current news cycle is nonstop from minute to minute, with a significant focus on being first, sometimes at the expense of accuracy.
Everything has changed again since Elon Musk purchased Twitter, now X - but that is a story for another day.
In her research article, Slow Journalism, Megan Le Masurier from the University of Sydney explains:
reporters endure a form of paranoia, that they’ve got to produce something out of this mess, and they better figure it out fast. Working at high speed encourages journalists to fall back on well-worn themes and observations—interpretive clichés—and not give themselves the time or frame of mind to see anything beyond that.
In a free and fair competition between a slow and fast version of ‘the same thing,’ the fast version wins. The question is, what gets lost along the way?
I am a recovering news junkie - I love to get the news first and be the first to know it. Not sure at what cost. I have slowly learned that knowing things as they happen is not as great as it seems, and my brain is much healthier if I don’t engage in “doom scrolling.”
What is slow journalism?
Slow journalism is a cultural movement that focuses on the pace of media production and consumption in the digital age. It advocates for alternative ways of making and using media that are more intentional, enjoyable, longer lasting, better researched/written/designed, more ethical, and of higher quality overall.
Questioning the premise that faster is better, slow journalism is about taking the time to report the news with close attention and more depth. Though many of the principles of slow journalism aren’t new, the idea has taken on fresh urgency. It shares characteristics with narrative journalism, especially the emphasis on immersive and investigative reporting.
Benefits of slow journalism
Slow journalism is more accurate. It produces detailed, well-researched stories that comprehensively understand the subject matter. It allows for more analysis, which places current events within broader historical, cultural, or social contexts, helping readers connect the dots and understand the more profound components involved.
Slow journalism is anti-sensationalist and anti-clickbait. Its commitment to depth and nuance counterbalances a media landscape dominated by sensationalist headlines, fostering more measured and thoughtful discourse. It values storytelling that combines factual discovery with narrative craft, taking the time to discover stories that may be lost in the rush of the daily news cycle.
Slow journalism often adheres to higher ethical standards, prioritizing accuracy and social responsibility over profit. It embraces the concept of fairness. It encourages critical thinking, presenting well-rounded stories with multiple perspectives that promote a deeper understanding and thoughtful reflection. Additionally, the participatory nature of this type of journalism transforms audiences into partners. Slow journalism aims to provide a more meaningful and insightful experience for the audience by delving deeper into stories.
Slow journalism reduces news fatigue. It helps mitigate the feeling of being overwhelmed by constant news updates by focusing on quality over quantity. This approach allows readers to engage with content more meaningfully and avoid the burnout of information overload. It considers listening as important as speaking.
Ten years later this video, and his predictions are true about journalism, and his defense of slow journalism still relevant - its a really good watch, definitely take the 10 mins for the video if you can.
Mean world syndrome
Living in the fast-paced attention economy can also create a false sense of panic. The term doom scrolling has emerged for a reason: that often, our news feeds and social media are filled with the urgent news for the day, and mainly if it bleeds, it leads is the theme. In other words, we begin to develop an irrational fear of how the world is.
Before delving deeper into Mean World Syndrome, it’s essential to understand the framework it fits into: Cultivation Theory. Developed by George Gerbner and Larry Gross, this theory posits that long-term exposure to television content has a small but significant influence on viewers’ beliefs and perceptions of social reality. Over time, heavy viewers may come to accept the most common messages of the media as realistic representations of the world, thus ‘cultivating’ attitudes that align with the media’s world.
Mean world syndrome can be applied to social media and to those of us who are news junkies, especially in a world where the right-wing echo chambers prey on this fear to use their powerful propaganda. Research by Samantha Kemp at Portland State University found significant positive correlations between increased social media usage and increased fear, anxiety, and pessimism. Slow journalism helps put events and information into larger contexts so it doesn’t seem like a fire hose of bad news you must drink from daily.
Examples of Slow Journalism
Delayed Gratification is a beautiful quarterly publication that revisits the events of the last three months to offer in-depth, independent journalism in an increasingly frantic world.
Propublicas' investigative journalism can take months or even years to complete. Their work frequently uncovers significant issues and leads to very real-world changes. They recognize that investigative journalism requires much time and resources, and many newsrooms can no longer afford to take on this kind of deep-dive reporting. As a nonprofit, ProPublica’s work is powered primarily through donations.
Tortoise Media is a British news website co-founded in 2018 by former BBC News director and The Times editor James Harding and former US ambassador to the United Kingdom Matthew Barzun.
Mother Jones — This newsroom investigates the big stories that may be ignored or overlooked by other news outlets, including those about democracy and voting rights, racial justice, reproductive rights, and food and agriculture.
So the next time you see the words "Breaking News," slow down, decide if you want your brain culled by the rage farmers and the click-baiters, and learn to find news that goes deeply into the narrative and that matters by supporting slow journalism outlets.
I think we’re in conversation with one another based on one of my latest posts. https://open.substack.com/pub/uncurve/p/longforms-dilemma?r=3i88z&utm_medium=ios
Beautifully written post. I mean, "as always", that is. lol But...I have some thought. And before I say them, know that I'm not arguing with anything. You've put a lot of my own thoughts into words; thoughts I've been struggling to articulate for awhile now.
Here's the "but"...history shows us that there needs to be some inciting incident to trigger the kind of change you're advocating for, here. Everything is "throwaway" these days (insert emoji of old woman yelling at the clouds). Everything, though. Just because media calls it "fast" rather than "disposable" doesn't mean that it's less throwaway. And that means even the news and information.
This didn't start with the tech revolution in the 1990s, either. I'd say the real origin of our current "fast" cultural trends (if it's not just already built into our human DNA, of course) was the industrial revolution, which led to so many other cultural evolutions.
Slowing down is good, I see it only as a reprieve without that "inciting incident" that will make a permanent change. That said, I could be wrong ... history is also full of quiet movements that slowly took over the dominant cultural trends.